Chupacabra

A legendary blood-drinking creature that terrorized Puerto Rico in the 1990s may have started with one horror movie fan's exaggerated description — and every captured 'chupacabra' since has turned out to be a mangy coyote.

The Chupacabra ("goat-sucker") is a legendary creature first reported in Puerto Rico in 1995, blamed for killing livestock by draining their blood. Every physical specimen ever recovered and tested has been identified as a known animal, usually a coyote or dog with severe mange, though the original 1995 description remains unexplained.

⇄disputed

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Quick facts

→The first reported chupacabra attacks occurred in Puerto Rico in March 1995, killing livestock with puncture wounds and reportedly drained of blood.
→The original description, from witness Madelyne Tolentino, has been noted by some researchers to closely resemble the alien creature in the 1995 film Species, which she had recently seen.
→Every physical specimen captured and DNA tested across the Americas since has been identified as a coyote, dog, or other canine, typically suffering from severe mange.
→Mange causes dramatic hair loss and skin thickening in canines, which can produce an appearance strikingly different from a healthy animal of the same species.

Entities on file

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Chupacabra (event)

Legendary blood-drinking creature first reported in Puerto Rico in 1995; every tested physical specimen has been identified as a mange-afflicted canine.

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Madelyne Tolentino (person)

Puerto Rican witness whose early, influential chupacabra description has been noted for its resemblance to a recently released horror film creature.

→ provided an early influential description of → Chupacabra◐reported

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